Street-car fender.



B. G. HILL & M. J. ZIEGELMEYBR.

STREET CAR FENDER.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.'7,1911.

1,010,367. I I Patented N0v.28, 1911.

f I Z coLummA l-umonmln C0..WASHINUTON, D. c

mvITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD G. HILL AND MICHAEL J. ZIEGELMEYER, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

STREET-CAR FENDER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 28, 1911.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD C. HILL and MIoI-IAEL J. ZIEGELMEYER,citizens of the United States, residing at Cincinnati, in the county ofHamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Street-Car Fenders, of which the following is aspecification.

Our invention relates to novel street car fenders.

The object of our invention is to provide a simple, efiicient device forthis purpose which will effectually guard the front end of the streetcar and protect a person on the track when the car is approaching fromserious injury.

Our invention consists in a street car fender comprising downwardly andforwardly curved side frames having pivotally mounted therein a seriesof rollers extending in a curved line from the front to the rear end; insuitable braces, and springs pivotally mounted in said fender andpivotally mounting it upon an axle near its front en Our invention alsoconsists in the details of construction and in the combination andarrangement of the several parts as herein set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawing, which serves to illustrate the constructionand use of our invention: Figure 1 is a vertical section of the device;Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the same; Fig. 3 is a view partly infront elevation and partly in vertical section of the fifth wheel andthe connections to which it is pivotally-secured between the car and thefender; Fig. 4 is an elevation of the front end of the device;Fig. 5 isa top view of the fifth wheel, shown in Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is a perspectiveview of the brace; and Fig. 7 is a perspective view of one of thesprings.

In the embodiment of our invention, as illustrated, and which shows apreferred construction, we provide downwardly and forwardly curved sidebars 1 secured in fixed relation to each other at their upper rear endsby cross bar and brace 2 and near the front end by cross bar and brace 3each firmly secured to said side bars respectively. Said side bars 1areeach provided with a series of bearings 4 in which are journaled aseries of rollers 5 respectively. Saidroll ers are each preferablyconstructed of a metallic rod 6 having shoulders 7 and journals 8, saidjournals being adapted to enter said bearings 4 respectively. Wepreferably cover said rod 6 with a sleeve 9 of wood, rubber or othersuitable material and receiving cross bar and brace 3, upon which saidfifth wheel is slidably and pivotally mounted. A bolt hole 14 extendsvertically through said lower part 11 and also through the upper part 15for the purpose of receiving a pivot bolt 16 bywhich said'upper andlower parts are secured together and upon which the lower part 11 isadapted to turn. The lower part 11 is provided upon its upper surfacewith a recess 17 into which the lower surface of the upper part isadapted to fit, and this also provides a receptacle for oil by which thedevice may be constantly lubricated. The upper part 15 is provided withtransverse openings 18 and 19, adapted to receive supporting bars 20 and21, respectively, on which said upper part 15 is mounted. The supportingbars 20 and 21 are secured to brackets 22 attached to the car 38 bybolts 23. Said upper part 15 may be held in fixed relation to saidsupporting bars by any suitable means. A. spring 24. is suitablyconnected to each lug 12 and to the side bars 1, respectively for thepurpose of normally holdingthe fender in central position relative tosaid lower part and at the same time to permit said fender to yield orshift to either side under the movement or action of the car or of anyobject which might engage the fender, thus permitting the fullest andfreest variation in the movement of the fender, depending upon theparticular conditions requiring same. Thus it is seen that it not onlyprovides for a pivotal movement of the fender upon said pivot bolt butalso provides for additional lateral shifting movement to either side asmay be necessary. This is particularly advantageous and desirable whengoing around a curve, since it permits of the greatest freedom ofmovement and action of the fender independently of the front of the carwhile turning a curve.

In order to securely brace and strengthen the fender, we preferablyprovide a brace 25 which is suitably secured to each side 1,substantially as shown. e also provide springs 26 each coiled uponsupporting bar 21, one end of which spring engages sup porting bar 21and the other end of which extends along the inner surface of the side"bar beneath said rollers and is secured at 27, said springs beingprovided for the purpose of normally holding the front end of saidfender in its downward position as near as possible to the surface overwhich it passes.

Brackets 28 are secured to the cross bar and brace 3 and upon thesebrackets is mounted supporting bar 29 to which the upper part 30 of thefifth wheel 31 is rigidly secured. The lower part 33 of said fifth wheelis pivotally connected and secured to the upper part by means of a pivotbolt 34, said pivot bolt also extending through supporting cross bar 29and axle bar 35 of the truck. Suitable flanged wheels 36 are mountedupon said axle bar 35 and are adapted to traverse the street car rails37.

It will be seen that the lower front end of our fender is pivotallymounted upon a truck in such a manner as to permit said truck to turnfreely and adapt itself to varying conditions of the track or rails.

It will be observed from the foregoing description that our constructionis such that the fender, (which consists of a series of rollers) isalways passing along directly over each rail of the track and is alwaysdown on the track, and projects in front of the car so that it isabsolutely impossible for a person to be struck by the car without firstcoming into contact with the fender, and being protected from seriousinjury thereby. It should be further noted that our fender is always inposition ready to catch a person who is accidentally caught by anapproaching car. Our device is particularly effective when the car ispassing over a curve for the reason that the fender always follows thetrack, whereas, on a curve the front end of the car projects to one sideof the track. It should be further noted that as the car is given atilting motion due to high speed and unevenness and irregularities inthe surface of the track, the springs 24 draw said fender downwardly andalways hold the wheels 36 in engagement with the rails 37 on the track.If during these movements of the street car there should be any side orlateral movement thereof, the coiled springs 24 permit of such movementwithout disturbing the position of the fender with relation to thetrack. The springs as before stated normally maintain the fender incentral position relative to the car by permitting of lateral thrusts orside movement of the car against the pressure of said springs which willquickly readjust the parts to their normal position.

An important feature of our invention consists in providing two fifthwheels, one near the body of the car to which the upper rear end of thefender is attached, permitting pivotal and sliding movement thereon andthe other near the lower front end of the fender permitting pivotalmovement, only, thereon. This affords ample provision by which thefender is adapted to readily adapt itself to curves and otherirregularities in the track as well as to the various movements,tilting, lateral and otherwise of the street car.

A very important feature of our invention consists in the provision of aseries of transverse pivotally mounted rollers extending from the lowerfront end of the fender and near the ground or surface, graduallyinclining upwardly for a short distance and then curving sharply upwardto the rear end of the fender so that when a person is accidentallycaught in front of the fender he will fall upon said rollers and byreason of the forward movement of the car and fender will be easilyrolled up and securely and safely caught upon its upper surface andprotected from serious injury.

The fender extends entirely across the track and over the wheels 36 sothat there is no possible danger of any person being struck by saidwheels.

It will be apparent that our invention is capable of considerablemodification without material departure from the spirit or scopethereof. We do not, therefore, wish to be confined to the exact detailsof construction or arrangement of the parts as herein set forth, but

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A street car fender secured to a street car and comprising side bars,means for sup porting said side bars in fixed relation to each other, aseries of rollers arranged side by side between said side bars andjournaled therein, a fifth wheel mounted upon said street car andslidably connected to said 115 fender whereby pivotal and slidingmovement is provided between said car and said fender and a truck uponwhich said fender is mounted near its front end, substantially as setforth and for the purposes specified.

2. A street car fender secured to a street car and comprising side barsheld in fixed relation to each other, a series of rollers arranged sideby side between and lengthwise of said bars, a fifth wheel mounted onsaid 125 street car, and pivotally and slidably supporting said fenderat its rear end, a truck pivotally connected to and supporting saidfender near its front end, and springs secured to said car and to saidfender whereby 1.30

the latter is normally held in downward position to maintain the wheelsof the truck in constant engagement with the track, substantially as setforth and for the purposes specified.

3. A street car fender comprising side bars suitably held in fixedrelation to each other, a series of rollers journaled transverselybetween said side bars and extending longitudinally thereof, a braceconnecting said side bars below said rollers in its rear part, means forpivotally connecting said fender to a street car and springs adapted tohold said fender in downward position, substantially as set forth andfor the purposes specified.

4. A street car fender secured to a street car and comprising slde bars,a series of rollers mounted transversely therebetween, a

fifth wheel pivotally connected to said street car and slidablyconnected to said fender and springs connecting said fifth wheel andsaid sides respectively whereby said fender is normally held in positionand is adapted to yield laterally and turn upon said pivot,substantially as set forth and for the purposes specified.

EDWARD C. HILL.

MICHAEL J. ZIEGELMEYER.

Witnesses:

HARRY J. HILL, CAsPAR HILL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

